Gigantic spider-like box crab with 4ft claws hauled off Kerry coast leaving fishermen astonished by extremely rare catch
Kerry #Kerry
A GIGANTIC box crab measuring over nine feet has been hauled up in the fishing nets of a Kerry trawler.
Normally found in the depths of the Porcupine Bank, the spider-like creature is thought to have gone off course when it wandered into the nets of the Kerry skipper, Niall Flannery, in recent days.
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A gigantic box crab measuring over nine feet has been hauled up in the fishing nets of a Kerry trawlerCredit: Domnick Walsh 
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The two claws are over four foot longCredit: Domnick Walsh
Marine biologist, Dr Kevin Flannery, said they are an extremely rare catch in Irish waters.
The director of Dingle Oceanworld said: “I’ve only ever seen about four of them. She was found just north of the Blasket Islands by the Barnacle 2. She was stuck in the net.”
He said the sheer size of the crab astonished the fishermen, Niall Flannery and Deividas Uosis, who hauled her in.
Dr Flannery continued: “I imagine their mouths were open when they saw her, she is one of the biggest box crabs I have ever seen.
“Her two claws are over four foot long and then there is her body, there would be a span of over nine feet.
“She would usually be found in around 500 metres of water but this was around 80 metres of water,
“She’s huge. At first they thought it was a spider crab, they knew it was completely different from what they were targeting. They photographed it and sent it on to me.
“This would not be her habitat, she would be found normally way off deep scavenging on the ocean floor.”
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He said she possibly came into shallower waters looking for food.
Despite her size, he said the monster is a relatively docile creature to handle.
He continued: “The trawler would have had tanks for holding their lobsters and crayfish so they put her in there. They wouldn’t be as agile out of water.”
‘TINY NEXT TO HER’
Now in a giant tank in Dingle Oceanworld, the box crab is dwarfing her other spider crab companions.
He added: “She is in with other spider crabs but they are like babies under her.
“They look tiny next to her.”
But he said she wouldn’t harm her smaller counterparts, adding: “She is not aggressive.”